Gold Panning [淘金] (2022) ep 1-3

Gold Panning is the latest in the iQiyi Light On series and marks a shift from the standard crime drama approach (albeit not the first). Set in 1986 in the fictional country of Gongma, the series focuses on an area of uncontrolled (and largely manual) gold mining in the local rivers. Both local and Chinese…

Two Manchurian films from the 1940s: Winter Jasmine [迎春花] (1942) & My Nightingale [私の鶯] (1944)

The Manchukuo Film Association Corporation  (or Man'ei) is a particularly interesting creation in Chinese film history. Established by the Japanese in the colony of Manchuria in 1937, Man'ei made films in both Chinese and Japanese using cast and crew from both countries. But, with limited exceptions, it has been largely ignored in the history of…

A Yang Pingdao Film [裂流] (2020)

This strangely (if accurately) titled film starts out as a pseudo-documentary about director Yang Pimgdao [Yang Pingdao] who does not seem to be doing very much. For no very obvious reason, he acquires an attractive young intern Dai Lingling [Jin Lingmin]. When she reveals that her parents are splitting up accusing each other of infidelity,…

Double Tap [双探] (2021)

This is Tencent's latest entry in the (relatively) short crime drama world. And it is up there with the best in the Light On series and one of the best of 2021. This Fargoesque series came out in September 2021 in 16 episodes. Something happened in the north-east (Dongbei) city of Shuangta (shot in Yanji…

Mother’s Happiness [儿孙福] (1926)

There is, in fact, very little maternal happiness in this film, one of the earliest extant Chinese movies (or rather largely extant). Like many Chinese films of the time (or at least the surviving versions), the film has English and Chinese intertitles. The film opens as the mother of four [Zhou Wenzhu who appeared in…

The Door Lock [门锁] (2021)

This is a tale of two films: the one which might (should) have been made and the one the film-makers actually delivered. This film is a loose 'remake' of a 2018 Korean film of the same name. Fang Hui [the great Bai Baihe in her first film since 2019] is a thirty something singleton living…